The Latest: Oklahoman says he was lucky when tornado struck

Ron Bloomberg, who witnessed victim and neighbor Eric Gavin's body being recovered, embraces his girlfriend as he returns to his home in Chetek, Wis., after a tornado flattened a trailer park and nearby trees.(Richard Tsong-Taatarii/Star Tribune via AP)

CHETEK, Wis. (AP) — The Latest on the deadly storms in the central U.S. (all times local):

6 p.m.

One western Oklahoma resident says he was lucky when a tornado struck his subdivision near a golf course.

Matt Bynum said Wednesday that most of the roof of his home is intact and his loss is mainly windows while some of his neighbors’ homes are almost entirely caved in. One person was killed the twister near Elk City.

The neighborhood buzzed with chain saws and generators plus a visit from Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin.

Bynum says he was watching the wind pick up in his yard Tuesday night when he saw a funnel form. He ran inside, and three minutes later the neighborhood was wrecked.

The 48-year-old Bynum says he and others in the subdivision will rebuild and repair and he knows for sure his redone home will have one new feature: a storm shelter.

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5:50 p.m.

Gov. Scott Walker has declared a state of emergency for three counties in northwestern Wisconsin following a deadly tornado and damaging storms.

Walker visited a trailer park near the city of Chetek on Wednesday afternoon where one resident was killed and 25 people were injured Tuesday night.

The governor told reporters it was “nothing short of a miracle” that more people weren’t hurt. He says the survivors are going to need help for some time to come.

Walker’s declaration covers Barron, Jackson and Rusk counties. He directed state agencies and the Wisconsin National Guard to help those affected by the storms.

The weather service says it received reports of more than two dozen tornado sightings Tuesday night across five states: Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska and Wisconsin.

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4:30 p.m.

The National Weather Service says its preliminary damage rating for a tornado that destroyed a trailer park and killed a man in northwestern Wisconsin is a strong EF2.

The enhanced F-scale runs from EF0 to EF5. An EF2 or higher is considered a significant tornado.

The weather service says the twister packed winds of 120 to 130 mph, or even slightly stronger, when it hit the park near Chetek on Tuesday evening.

The weather service says it received reports of more than two dozen tornado sightings Tuesday night across five states: Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska and Wisconsin.

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4 p.m.

Gov. Mary Fallin says the damage to a western Oklahoma community that a tornado struck, killing a man, is devastating.

Fallin toured Elk City on Wednesday afternoon as families sorted through the remains of their homes. The governor was joined by state and local officials and emergency responders.

Fallin told reporters that it’s never easy seeing people who have lost their homes.

National Weather Service meteorologists say preliminary indications show eight tornadoes touched down in western Oklahoma on Tuesday. Fifty-three-year-old Bo Mikles was killed as he was apparently fleeing his home when his vehicle was thrown several hundred feet.

Authorities say at least 40 homes were destroyed.

The weather service says it received reports of more than two dozen tornado sightings Tuesday night across five states: Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska and Wisconsin. A tornado killed a man in Wisconsin.

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2:30 p.m.

A man who lost his home when a deadly tornado destroyed a trailer park in northwestern Wisconsin says he helped search for survivors afterward.

Dale Daily said Wednesday that he heard the warning siren sound about a half-hour before the tornado hit Prairie Lake Estate Mobile Park near Chetek Tuesday evening. He says he and his wife drove away to safety and returned just after the twister left the area to find the park in ruins.

Daily says he walked among the debris and helped free a man who was buried under a refrigerator and debris. He says the man had bad head trauma and that he tried to keep him from going to sleep.

Tornadoes reportedly touched down in four other states in the central U.S., including Texas, Kansas, Nebraska and Oklahoma, where another man was killed.

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12:30 p.m.

One of the tornadoes that touched down during storms that barreled through a large swath of the central U.S. destroyed about 20 homes in central Kansas.

Barton County spokeswoman Donna Zimmerman said Wednesday that the tornado that formed Tuesday night near Pawnee Rock remained on the ground for up to 15 miles (24 kilometers) before dissipating west of Hoisington. She says initial reports were that it was more than 400 feet (120 meters) wide.

Zimmerman says one person suffered minor injuries and that the tiny community of Pawnee Rock is “very fortunate” that the twister struck a largely rural area.

Tornadoes reportedly touched down in four other states, including Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska and Wisconsin, killing two people and injuring dozens of others.

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11:30 a.m.

Authorities have released the name of a man who was killed when a tornado tore through a mobile home park in northwestern Wisconsin.

It destroyed 50 to 60 trailer homes and injured 25 people, 17 of whom were taken to hospitals.

Storms barreled through a large swath of the central U.S. and tornadoes reportedly touched down in four other states, including Kansas, Nebraska, Texas and Oklahoma, where another man was killed trying to flee to safety.

The governors of Wisconsin and Oklahoma plan to survey the most damaged areas of their states later Wednesday.

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10:50 a.m.

Gov. Scott Walker plans to tour the storm devastation in northwestern Wisconsin where a tornado leveled a mobile home park, killing one person and injuring at least two dozen others.

Walker will survey what’s left of the Prairie Lakes Estates Mobile Home Park near Chetek Wednesday afternoon. Officials say residents of the park will be allowed to enter the site to look for their belongings around noon.

Barron County Sheriff Christopher Fitzgerald on Wednesday praised the efforts of first responders. He says that in some cases, the responders left their own storm-damaged homes to help search the mobile home park. Fitzgerald says they lifted walls off people who were trapped.

Tornadoes reportedly touched down in five states on Tuesday night, including Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas, in addition to Wisconsin. A tornado destroyed homes in a western Oklahoma subdivision and killed a man who was trying to flee to safety.

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10:15 a.m.

Gov. Mary Fallin plans to tour the damage to a western Oklahoma community that was struck by a tornado that killed a man.

Fallin’s office says the governor will arrive in Elk City about noon Wednesday to meet with emergency responders and tour the damaged area.

National Weather Service meteorologists say preliminary indications show eight tornadoes touched down in western Oklahoma on Tuesday, killing 53-year-old Bo Mikles as he apparently was fleeing his home when his vehicle was thrown several hundred feet.

Authorities say at least 40 homes were destroyed.

The weather service says it received reports of more than two dozen tornado sightings Tuesday night across five states: Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska and Wisconsin. A tornado killed a man in Wisconsin.

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10:10 a.m.

More severe weather is expected in parts of the Midwest a day after tornadoes killed two people and destroyed dozens of homes in Oklahoma and Wisconsin.

National Weather Meteorologist Tom Hultquist says a low-pressure system moving from Nebraska Wednesday is expected to bring strong thunderstorms into southeastern Minnesota and western portions of central and southern Wisconsin.

Hultquist says the storms have the potential to produce hail and tornadoes from late afternoon into the evening.

In northern Wisconsin, state emergency management officials are concerned about flooding in Ashland, Trempealeau, Clark and Jackson counties.

Meteorologists say preliminary indications show eight tornadoes swept through western Oklahoma Tuesday, leaving one person dead and destroying at least 40 homes. A tornado in northwestern Wisconsin destroyed a mobile home park, killing one man.

This item has been corrected to reflect that the tornado killed a man in northwestern Wisconsin, not the northeast of the state.

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8:30 a.m.

Authorities say at least one person was hurt when a tornado touched down in central Kansas.

The National Weather Service says the storm started Tuesday night in the panhandle of Oklahoma and tracked into Kansas. One confirmed tornado was reported near a small town southeast of Dodge City, although there were no immediate reports of damage. The storm then headed toward the small central Kansas town of Pawnee Rock, where a home was destroyed. No details were immediately available about the person who was hurt there.

National Weather Service Meteorologist Mike Umscheid says radar images suggest the storm may have produced other brief, rain-wrapped tornadoes as it moved over rural farmland.

Assessment crews were headed out Wednesday to determine the extent of the damage.

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8:30 a.m.

The Red Cross says dozens of people who lost their homes when a tornado leveled a trailer park in northwestern Wisconsin are staying with relatives or friends while others are using donated hotel rooms and a temporary shelter.

Red Cross spokesman Luong Huynh (loon ha-when) says 30 to 50 people came through a reception center at Mosaic Telecom in Cameron after the destructive tornado hit nearby Tuesday. Authorities say a 46-year-old man was killed and a couple of dozen people were injured.

The severe weather also caused extensive damage to several turkey barns across from the mobile home park. Mayor Jeff Martin in nearby Chetek (sheh-TEK’) says turkeys can be seen wandering in the damage.

National Weather Service meteorologist Rick Smith says two supercells began in the Texas Panhandle on Tuesday then moved into Oklahoma.

Smith said Wednesday that it appears the most damaging tornado was on the ground for five to 10 miles (eight to 16 kilometers) in the area of Elk City, Oklahoma.

Danny Ringer, chaplain with the Elk City Fire Department, says that tornado killed 53-year-old Bo Mikles. Authorities say it appears he was fleeing his home when his vehicle was thrown several hundred feet.

Ringer told KOCO-TV another 50 to 75 homes sustained heavy damage.

Smith says another round of severe storms is forecast Thursday and Friday, with more tornadoes possible.

He says hail larger than softballs fell Tuesday.

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6:40 a.m.

Authorities say the victim who died when a tornado destroyed a mobile home park in northwestern Wisconsin was a 46-year-old man.

At least 25 other people were injured when a storm Tuesday leveled the Prairie Lake Estate Mobile Park near Chetek, Wisconsin, about 110 miles (180 kilometers) northeast of Minneapolis.

First responders searched through the rubble overnight. The Barron County Sheriff’s Department says all other residents of the mobile home park are accounted for.

The Red Cross and Salvation Army are assisting those who lost their homes.

Another tornado flattened much of a subdivision on the southern fringe of Elk City, Oklahoma, about 110 miles (180 kilometers) west of Oklahoma City. Fire officials say at least one person died and that dozens of homes have been destroyed or severely damaged.

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1:56 a.m.

Two people have died and dozens are injured after tornadoes flattened a mobile home park in Wisconsin and a housing subdivision in Oklahoma during powerful spring storms that battered an area from the South Plains of Texas to the Great Lakes.

The storms hit late in the afternoon Tuesday and into the evening, leveling the Prairie Lake Estate Mobile Park near Chetek, Wisconsin. Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald told KMSP-TV that when first responders arrived at the scene, they could hear the people crying for help in the rubble.

In Oklahoma, another tornado damaged much of a subdivision on the southern fringe of Elk City. Fire Chaplain Danny Ringer told reporters at the scene late Tuesday that one person was known dead from the twister, although details were lacking.